Packing for a eleven months in a backpack? Never heard of her.
Apart from ya know, fundraising a small $18,000, THIS has been the hardest part of the Race thus far.
Let me just first tell you that I have a newfound hobby I’ve developed in the last year, and it is googling World Race packing lists. There is something weirdly therapeutic about reading through these lists that just sort of calms me in a way few things can. Whenever I can’t sleep in the middle of the night, I literally look up packing lists.
But when it came to formulating my own list, hello ANXIETY. I’m that person that before any kind of trip, always has dreams about forgetting to pack something, or forgetting my luggage altogether. So it’s safe to say a big fear of mine is being unprepared. But the reality is, the Lord has called me to the Race, and I know He always has my back spiritually, but He’s also taking care of me in my physical needs. I have prayed over this list, and I trust that this is most everything I could possibly need in the next year! Warning: it’s a lot.
If you’re a future Racer diving into the black hole of packing blogs circa 1 AM like I have so many times, you should know that my list looks like that of a slightly high maintenance beauty school graduate. So unless minimalism for you also means only one hair product, and all your daily makeup minus highlighter and blush, I would suggest maybe not matching your list directly to mine ;).
Would you believe all of that is a combined total of 50 lbs? Me neither. Split between my big pack and day pack, this is everything making the journey. And I get to carry it all alone!!
CLOTHES
- 6 t-shirts (if you’re here from my Instagram story, the people spoke and the Ariel shirt made the cut)
- 4 nicer “cute” shirts
- 1 flannel shirt
- 1 pullover sweatshirt
- 1 rain jacket
- 1 pair basketball shorts
- 1 pair bermuda shorts
- 2 pair Nike running shorts (for sleeping, they don’t meet our dress code requirements RIP me)
- 3 skirts (2 midi, 1 maxi)
- 2 pairs of jeans
- 1 pair elephant pants
- 1 pair utility jogger pants
- 1 pair of leggings
- 20 pairs of underwear
- 6 sports bras, 1 regular
- 6 pairs of socks
- bathing suit
- Chacos
- tennis shoes
- nicer church sandals
TOILETRIES
- travel sized: shampoo, conditioner, face wash, body wash, lotion (I get to pick up the rest of this in country each month!)
- quick-dry towel
- razors
- Devacurl hair gel
- toothbrush, toothpaste, retainers
- deodorant (+ extras because as I learned in Jamaica last summer, deodorant in other countries is…interesting!)
- sunscreen
- bug spray
- baby powder (to use as dry shampoo, life hack)
- headbands, scrunchies, hair ties, bobby pins
- hand sanitizer
- baby wipes
- q-tips
- makeup (for when I don’t want to look/feel like a dirty, homeless goblin)
- nail polish (the girls on my squad are all bringing 1 bottle, so we can all swap and share)
MISC. NECESSITIES
- sleeping bag
- sleeping pad
- airporter (this is basically a giant bag that protects my pack from the elements of airports)
- rain covers (for both my big pack and daypack)
- pillowpet (+ pillow case for travel days)
- Hydroflask water bottle
- small bible
- journal
- pens
- coloring book + colored pencils (for travel days!)
- sunglasses
- 1 hat
- headlamp
- shears, combs, clips (haircuts for all)
- eye mask
- motion sickness bands (pray for me, longest I’ve ever flown is about 3 hours!)
- ibuprofen, melatonin
- lavender, peppermint, and tea tree essential oils
- Divacup
- bandaids
ELECTRONICS
- laptop + charger
- kindle + charger
- phone charger + headphones
- power bank (I used this at training camp to charge my phone all 10 nights, I only had to charge the actual bank once. Thanks, Amazon!!)
- movies downloaded (In my time as a cast member I purchased nearly Disney every movie that came out of the vault/out on DVD, and they all came with free digital copies. Never had any use for the downloads until now!! Thanks, Walt!)
- I have somewhere around 4,000 songs downloaded on Spotify… bless up.
Packing it all together, there she is! My shoulders hurt just looking at everything. But boy am I excited. As I type this I am actually on my way to Atlanta for Launch! I truly can’t believe the day is finally here. I have so many dang feelings, but mostly excitement for all my Father has in store. Stay tuned for updates FROM THE FIELD!!!
